Page 88 of A Kingdom of Destruction

Like somehow, having a ring on her finger made the stakes higher.

When she woke in the morning, her heart hung low in her chest, heavier than she bargained.

Nora said nothing about the silence, although she took special care to fix Aven’s hair in a simple, comfortable fashion. Nora’s hands were extra gentle while she dressed her charge, and when the moment came for Aven to head to breakfast, Nora stopped her at the door.

“It’s a good thing you do,” she said low. “To agree.”

“I never told you I would.”

Nora only smiled like she knew a secret that extended beyond words.

“Don’t think I’m anything less than I am, Nora,” Aven said after a beat. Her pulse echoed in her ears, and she felt the answering tingle through her feet. “I’ve killed. I’ve done terrible things. This is only the first step in making it up for both our peoples’ sakes.”

“And yet it’s one you resign yourself to. He is a good man.”

Except something tugged in Aven’s head, and she wasn’t exactly sure which prince her lady’s maid meant.

“Do I look resigned? I’m about to accept the proposal of a lifetime.” She mustered a grin. “I’m supposed to look like I’m the luckiest girl in the land.”

“You’ll be fine. Remember, this is a good thing, Miss Aven. A very good thing.” Nora pressed her hand to the small of Aven’s back to steer her into the hallway.

Her legs refused to move, or hold her full weight. Nora stayed at her side until they stood on the threshold of the small parlor near the library where she and Cillian had taken to breaking their fasts.

“Go on.” Nora’s whisper urged Aven forward, and it took another push from behind to get her to move on wooden legs.

She didn’t expect it to be this hard to tell Cillian she would marry him. Not when she enjoyed his company and found him to be a good friend, a person who cared about the fae the same way she cared about her people. She did it for them all. Those without the ability to fight back who had been impacted by this war.

And only the smallest shred of thought for herself.

Aven cleared her throat to announce her presence, but Cillian already stared her down, his eyes lit with an inner mischief.

“A little late, aren’t you? I thought you were going to sleep the day away.”

She regarded him less like a man and more as the ruler he would be one day. When she stepped forward to walk toward him, her mind raced, and she knew things were going to work out. She only needed this moment of quiet to order her mind before she told him what she planned.

“I want to get married,” she told him abruptly. Then softened the statement with a grin. “I think it’s a grand idea, Cillian, and I’d be honored to be your wife.”

He blinked once. Blinked again before he nodded, his hair shifting in front of his face to hide his smile. “I was hoping you’d say yes.”

A knot loosened inside of her, adrenaline slipping away and the tension in her muscles with it. Cillian wrapped his arms around her and brought her to his chest before finding her lips with his own. Heat lit through her in an instant with his touch.

He cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her softly, inhaling her small gasp. Yes. She needed this. No matter what would happen between them, or how damaged and broken she came to him, she needed this touch. And she’d go through with this wedding not just because of the peace it brought but because of him.

“Thank you,” he breathed against her lips. “Thank you for marrying me.”

“Don’t thank me. There’s no need.” She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck rather than release him.

Anything else she might have wanted to say stilled when Cillian kissed her thoroughly. Her heart skipped into a gallop, and she gave into it. The lure of him and the powerful heat building in her blood. She kissed him like she belonged to him because the moment they went through with this, she would.

Just as he would belong to her.

Roran was only a distant thought in her head. Except the moment her mind conjured his name, memories of the night before slapped her so hard she released Cillian and slipped back to her own feet.

No.

He had no place in this happy moment.

She refused to give that man any more leverage over her. Roran was right; it had all been in her head. She must have been mistaken—just cold feet before accepting the proposal.

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